The figure that emerged before her was a lady. She donned pale skin, almost as white as the snow that surrounded her, but her hair was black as charcoal. Her lips looked almost drained out of blood, if it weren't for the pinkish tint that was only visible close-up.
She was in a pale blue yukata and bore no shoes. She was standing barefoot in the snow. Her dark coloured hair was let loose, her locks tumbling down her shoulders, barely touching her waist.
"Little girl, are you lost?" The lady asked, her voice smooth.
Her eyes were brown, but somehow there was no emotion reflected in them.
Before Haruka could answer, the lady reached out her hand to Haruka, as if offering her help.
"Come. I shall guide you little girl", her voice sounding cold, just like ice. It sounded more like a demand.
Haruka stared her. Her vision was getting slightly blurry from fatigue due to the cold and snow. It was freezing to the point that she felt the snow burning her skin.
As the lady was about to touch Haruka's cheek, an azure light stuck her pale hand, causing the lady to shriek, retracting her arm, rubbing her injured hand.
Haruka snapped back to reality as the azure light flashed before her eyes. She stared at the woman who was squatting over to her eye level and quickly stood up, preparing to bolt.
That however seemed to lure the attention of the lady back to Haruka, much to Haruka's horror.
The lady's eyes widened upon seeing her prey escape, forgetting about her injured hand, going full force at Haruka instead.
"You're not going anywhere little girl!" She shrieked, going after Haruka.
Haruka didn't know, neither did she care where she was running towards, she just wanted to get away from this woman!
"You're going nowhere sweetheart. This is my barrier, and you're sucked in it. There's no escape for you!"
Just then, Haruka's legs were frozen in place—literally. Ice started to build up from her feet, up until her neck. She was in an ice prison now.
Haruka was about to cry. She wondered if today was her last day on earth.
The lady appeared before her, this time looking totally different from before. Her messy locks were now a different length. Her long, seemingly unkept fringe was parted to the sides, shorter as well.
Her yukata was a monochromatic colour of blue. A pastel blue fluffy scarf hugged her neck, just like the one on the fox demon's. Her sleeves were slit off the shoulder, her arms covered by long fabric.
Her eyes this time weren't brown, instead, they were the colour of ice—pale blue, almost the colour of the her sclera if not for the blue tint around her iris.
She looked more vicious this time, and she was levitating off the ground as well.
Before either of them could utter a word, another azure light struck the space in between the both of them, shocking them both. The impact cause the ice that hugged Haruka to break, very much like glass.
Haruka fell to the ground, landing on the knees, the poor girl attempting to catch her breath.
A second light was sent down, aiming at the lady. The lady dodged, however turned to the direction of where the light came from, her eyes now full of fury from the constant interruption.
Haruka had a much clearer view this time. It wasn't an azure light—it was an azure flame!
Does that mean-
"Who goes there!" The lady yelled, icicles forming around her hands, ready to send them flying at whoever the culprit was.
A familiar voice confirmed Haruka's suspicion, as well as part of her fear.
Kurei descended from above, his lavender fan covering half of his face bottom-up as always, leaving his golden eyes to send a piercing glare at whoever crosses his path.
His silver fox ears twitched, in annoyance that someone had caused some sort of magical disruption in the shrine while he was out attempting to take a nap.
All nine of his silver tails shifted from side to side, in proud display.
"No I should be the one saying that", Kurei interrupted, his annoyance building up.
"Who gave you the permission to set up a magical barrier in this shrine?"
The lady's expression simply cooled almost immediately.
"I didn't expect any occupancy here", she replied, tilting her head back in curiosity, almost mockingly.
"You better remove yourself here, Yuki-Onna. Your presence isn't really welcomed here."
The lady narrowed her eyes, irritation crawling up her skin. Her icicles were growing larger and sharper by the minute.
"You shouldn't have bothered me, Mister fox. Maybe if you left me alone, we both would have some peace, wouldn't we?" It was like she was trying to bargain, or taunt, maybe a mix of both.
"Don't be stubborn. Before I set you on fire, you'd better get out of here," Kurei threatened, his voice an octave lower.
The large icicles were launched right at Kurei's direction. But before they could reach the fox demon, he slapped his fan closed quickly, expelling a huge wall of azure kitsunebi*, dispelling and melting the icicles as if it was nothing. These icicles were could stab through flesh, no doubt because they were created with powerful magic, being unable to melt just by normal fire, however, it was futile against fox fire.
"Bad move, Yuki-chan", his voice grew in a more mocking tone, fuelled by his accumulated irritation. "You can't fight snow against fire!"
He swung his arm out, more flames being sent out, aiming right at Yuki-Onna mercilessly.
Yuki-Onna barely had the time to react, casting up a shield that melted as quickly as it was created in a matter of seconds, causing the snow yōkai to suffer some burns.
"Don't be too cocky Kurei. The next time I see you, you had better be prepared!" Yuki-Onna threatened, clutching her right arm, half wincing from the pain.
Her body started to disintegrate into snow, and she disappeared within a matter of seconds, the magical snow barrier broke like a glass dome.
There was the shrine, just right before Haruka's eyes.
"Where's Nanako-chan?" Haruka asked, still worried about her friend.
"The one with the blonde hair?"
Haruka nodded.
"Your friend is fine. She was looking for you while you were in Yuki-Onna's barrier. She thought you left first, so she went off", he replied, patting snow off him.
His tails were now only in one single fox tail.
"Ah that's good. At least she wasn't harmed", she heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for saving me."
Kurei stared at her, arching an eyebrow.
"Didn't I tell you to never come to this shrine again?" Kurei asked rather harshly. "Though yōkai attacks and barriers aren't common in shrines to begin with, you somehow attracted a powerful yōkai to target you! You could have been killed if I didn't intervene"
"Nanako-chan dragged me here.. I told her I didn't want to go", Haruka reasoned, furrowing her eyebrows. Before she could rebut some more, her vision turned black, she felt her body go limp and numb before she hit the ground.